Slow Cooker Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
Slow Cooker Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
If you want delicious falling-off-the-bone short ribs, then the slow cooker is your best friend! Or you can follow me lead and pressure cook them in the last step. Either way you can't go wrong!
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, English-style beef short ribs (about 3-4 lbs)
- 3-4 tsp kosher salt, for seasoning
- 3 tsp freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
- 4 TBSP olive oil, divided
- 4 large carrots, sliced into 1 inch coins
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic sliced
- 2 cups dry red wine (Cabernet or Malbec is a great bet)
- 1.5 cups beef or veal stock (preferably, but chicken stock is fine too if that's all you have)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
Directions
- Step 1 The first and arguably most important step – salt the ribs VERY generously, coating them with about 1 tsp of salt per pound of meat.
- Step 2 Add 2 TBSP of the olive oil to a skillet and sear the ribs quickly on each side, over medium high heat (you can also do this in the slow cooker if you have a “Sear” function.) It’s really just a quick sear, just browning the exterior, you don’t have to cook them all the way through.
- Step 3 Remove the ribs to a platter, add the remaining 2 TBSP of olive oil to the skillet and add the vegetables (carrots, onion and garlic). Cook until lightly browned. Transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker (unless you were searing in it already) and add the short ribs back in (with the bone side up). Then add the red wine and stock to help with the braising. Sprinkle with dried thyme and then let the slow cooker do the rest of the work!
- Step 4 ONLY SLOW COOKING: Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours until the meat is very tender.
- Step 5 SLOW COOKING + PRESSURE COOKING: Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. Then turn off the slow cooker and switch the cooking function on the Instant Pot to “Meat/Stew.” Set the timer for 10 minutes. Once cooking has completed, manually release the pressure.
- Step 6 After the ribs have gotten tender, remove them from the Dutch oven and strain the juices into a pot. Add the juices do a small sauce pan and bring to a full boil for about 5 minutes, or until reduced by half. You should have about 2 cups of sauce left.
- Step 7 Serve the ribs and vegetables over a base of mashed potatoes or cauliflower (see note below) and drizzle with the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
I don’t know about you but I’m definitely digging the drop in temperatures, because it finally means it’s slow cooker season! October was so warm we barely even got to enjoy Crocktober, so we’re making up for lost time over here. I’ve been making a real effort to dig up some of my favorite old recipes for you and test out some new ones, so hopefully this will be the first of many. But if you’re a soup person – please stop whatever you’re doing and check out two of my favorites from the archives: Chicken Tortilla Soup and Slow Cooker Chicken Chili.
These short ribs are amazing on SO many levels, but one of my favorite things about them is the fact that is recipe can be executed two ways – either a (luxuriously) long 8 hour slow cook OR if you’re impatient like me (and using the Instantpot) you can cut that time in half and pressure cook after 4 hours. Result is the same, delicious melt-in-your-mouth meat, and a rich savory sauce. If you want something that will warm your bones and your soul, this recipe is for you!
I served the ribs over a truffled version of my Cauliflower Mash (just add 1 tbsp white truffle oil in the last step) and the combination was a homerun, not going to lie. But this would go equally well with some mashed potatoes, creamy polenta or even a pappardelle pasta. Just make sure you crack open a heavy bottle of red wine while you’re at it because this recipe calls for HALF the bottle (trust me). The other half bottle will hopefully find its way into your glass AND someone’s you love … then it’s instant cozy date night! Cheers to that!
